Author: Riccardo Tafà
Riccardo Tafà is the founder and Managing Director of RTR Sports Marketing, the independent motorsport sponsorship agency he established in 1995. A law graduate of the University of Bologna, he began his career in PR in London before moving into motorsport, and has spent more than 30 years structuring sponsorship partnerships in Formula 1 and MotoGP - closing over 100 deals across eight championships with properties including McLaren, Williams, Ducati, Honda HRC, Yamaha Factory Racing and Dorna Sports. He writes on sponsorship strategy, commercial rights, pricing, and ROI measurement for brands entering motorsport at every budget level.
February 1, 2024
Maximizing the impact of motorsport sponsorship through the use of social media
Many sponsors think social media is there to show the logo one more time. It is the other way round: everyone sees the logo on the car, social media is where you find out whether anyone cares[...]
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January 23, 2024
F1 Sponsorship Inventory: Navigating a Competitive Arena
Formula 1 Sponsorship Insights: Capturing the Ultimate Branding Platform The world of Formula 1 sponsorship is where elite engineering meets high-octane marketing, creating a globally appeali[...]
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January 14, 2024
How to contact the MotoGP teams
I put myself in the position of the marketing or sponsorship director of a company who finds himself in need of contacting a MotoGP team because he wants information on the sponsorship pack[...]
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December 6, 2023
The Best F1 Drivers of All Time: My List of the 14 Greatest
This is a list, not a ranking. If I had to pick just one with my heart, Ayrton Senna would always come first. But the best F1 drivers of all time are not measured with the heart alone, so you[...]
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November 17, 2023
The 10 best MotoGP riders of all time: the definitive ranking (2026)
Who are the best MotoGP riders of all time? If you go by the numbers, the ranking starts with Giacomo Agostini and his still-unbeaten 15 world titles, moves through Valentino Rossi and his 9 [...]
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November 6, 2023
Alain Prost, the Professor of Formula 1: career, titles and today
Four world titles, 51 wins, 33 pole positions and 106 podiums in 199 Grands Prix. And yet the nickname that stuck to Alain Prost is not about speed: it is about method. They called him the Pr[...]
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October 19, 2023
Motorsport content marketing: why the logo alone is not enough
A logo on a racing car is not content. It is a right. The value of a motorsport sponsorship begins when that right becomes something people choose to watch, share and remember. That is what w[...]
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October 5, 2023
Formula 2: what it is and why it wins when Formula 1 wins
Four of the nine Formula 2 champions race in Formula 1 today: Charles Leclerc, George Russell, Oscar Piastri and Gabriel Bortoleto. That fact alone is enough to dismantle the idea that Formul[...]
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October 3, 2023
Alan Jones and Keke Rosberg: the two champions who built Williams
The usual story is that Williams became great with Honda and Renault engines, with Mansell, Prost, Hill and Villeneuve. That is only partly true. Williams became a winning team earlier, betwe[...]
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September 26, 2023
F1 CSR: how sponsors can create a measurable positive impact
When people talk about F1 CSR and sponsorship, the most common reaction is skepticism: a sport that travels the world by plane and truck cannot be sustainable, and a sponsor talking about soc[...]
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September 22, 2023
F1 penalties: every type of sanction and how the FIA applies them
The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) oversees and enforces the rules of Formula 1 through a complex system of penalties that are designed to maintain safety, fairness a[...]
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August 1, 2023
Trackside advertising: how it works and who sells it in Formula 1 and MotoGP
Watch a Formula 1 start and try counting the brands. Not the ones on the cars: the ones around them. The boards along the straight, the lettering on the walls, the names on the grandstands an[...]
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July 27, 2023
What Formula 1 teams are worth: the economic growth from 2019 to today
November 2025. Toto Wolff sells 15% of his stake in Mercedes to George Kurtz, the founder of CrowdStrike and already one of the team’s commercial partners. Wolff owns a third of the tea[...]
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July 21, 2023
Alpine F1 Sponsors 2026: Complete Partner Portfolio of BWT Alpine F1 Team
Alpine F1 sponsors in 2026 number 47 according to the official BWT Alpine F1 Team list: one title partner (BWT), 4 premium partners (Eni, MSC Cruises, H. Moser & Cie., R5 TURBO 3E), 23 te[...]
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July 20, 2023
Esca 2000 Sports Award to RTR’s project for sponsorship of the World Ducati Weekend by the Emilia Romagna Region.
RTR, a leading sports marketing company, won the prestigious ESCA Italian Sponsorship Awards 2000 for the sports sector thanks to the partnership developed between the Emilia Romagna Region a[...]
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July 17, 2023
Formula 1 Sponsorship Calculator: find out how much it costs to sponsor in F1
How much does a sponsorship in Formula 1 cost? What are the elements and factors that contribute to the price of a sponsorship in motorsport’s top championship? To try to answer all the[...]
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July 12, 2023
Jochen Rindt: life, career and the 1970 posthumous world title
Jochen Rindt (Mainz, 18 April 1942 – Monza, 5 September 1970) is the only driver in history to have been crowned Formula 1 world champion posthumously. He died in qualifying for the 197[...]
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June 21, 2023
The Formula 1 helmet: safety, design and sponsor value
As a Formula 1 helmet sponsor, you have the potential to take advantage of one of the most popular sports on the planet and gain brand visibility through strategic designs. Helmet designs are[...]
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May 5, 2023
Aramco F1: what it is, what it sponsors and what the deal is worth
Aramco is the Saudi state-owned energy company and has been a Global Partner of Formula 1 since 2020, a partner of Aston Martin since 2022 and, from 1 January 2024, title partner of the team,[...]
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May 1, 2023
Emerson Fittipaldi: career, titles and the price of every choice
Emerson Fittipaldi is a retired Brazilian driver from São Paulo: two Formula 1 world titles (1972 with Lotus, 1974 with McLaren), 14 F1 wins, the 1989 CART title and two Indianapolis 500 win[...]
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